


I think I've seen this film before

by theghostwriter1



Category: Good Girls (TV), Good Girls (TV) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fiction, Guilty Pleasures, Inspired by Real Events, RPF, dontfreakaboutit, notreally
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28101828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theghostwriter1/pseuds/theghostwriter1
Summary: “I think he has potential.”“I think he’s married”, someone says with irony.“And what do you think?”, this one directs to her.She’s also married.So she laughs and takes another sip of her drink. She’s drunk for a while now."He’s okay.”
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 32
Kudos: 75





	1. Irrelevant and temporary

...

Universal Studios - Stage 43. 

The first time she sees him, covered in tattoos, nose pierce and caps on backwards, she creates a mental note about him. He looks a lot like the character described on the first read of the pilot’s script. But when he comes to speak to her after the read is over, all polity and sweet, she thinks she made a rush move by judging him by his looks. 

At the end of the day, she invites just the girls to get a drink at her place. And around two in the morning, a bunch of shots later, he becomes the subject of the conversation. 

And hypothetically, someone shoots, “if it happens to have a romantic couple...” 

“It won’t” 

“Okay, but hypothetically...” 

“It should be me, after all... C’mon! It’s more Annie’s type.” 

The guess is unanimous, but when they analyses it deeper, she chooses to just watch the debate in silent. “I think he has potential.” 

“I think he’s married”, someone says with irony. 

“And what do you think?”, this one directs to her. 

She’s also married. 

So she laughs and takes another sip of her drink. She’s drunk for a while now. 

"He’s okay.” 

. 

Even though they’re pretty different, they get along. Even better when acting. People start talking about their chemistry, and somebody decides they should go in that direction. 

It might be the way they look at each other on scene or when they look away from that same look laughing after someone screams “Cut!”. 

It gets better when he improvises on the dialogues. 

Mama, mami, ma... 

Suddenly, her head is spinning trying to remember her Spanish class on high school. 

Every now and then, he gets together with the girls on the shoots break, and watch as them have fun. He thinks it’s charming when she takes her hand and cover her mouth as she laughs. But he likes more when she doesn’t so he gets to see those two little teeth of hers that stand out of the rest. 

. 

She’s sitting, waiting to get into scene when she hears his voice. 

“Yo, whassup Chris?” 

She looks around her, trying to figure out who he’s talking to. Like, she knows it’s with her, but it’s weird and a little bit stupid. That’s NOT her name. 

“Oh! You were talking to me?”, she points at herself and he just smiles, answering her in silence. 

Fun fact: 

Rio calls Beth “Elizabeth” and no one else does. 

“Why is he calling you like that?”, Mae asks. 

“Because it’s my name... Chris... Tina.” 

“It makes sense, I never thought of that.” 

Ever since that day, he takes in every opportunity to call her that, even though she does {not} like. 

. 

He can’t help but look at her, through the mirror of the makeup trailer that they inevitably had to share. 

Her hair was up, and she is wearing dark-framed glasses that made her look like a whole different person. Why she insists on using a wig when red suits her so good? 

One of her dogs was comfortable on her lap before running towards him when he gets up to get something on his bag. That was when he heard her speak with that soft voice of hers. 

“Honey, don’t get on Uncle Manny’s way.” 

U.N.C.L.E. 

He can’t help but laugh because he just got a relationship with her dog. It was cute... and funny. 

. 

They shoot at night that day. It ended up late, but even then, no one really wanted to go home (at least she didn’t). She then convinced a few people of the cast to get a drink or something. 

“C’mon! It will be nice!”, she says. 

He thinks of going back to the hotel that he usually stays in. So, he denies a few times, but then he remembers there’s no one waiting for him. He’s all alone this time, so he says yes. 

There is a bar close by that he already knows of, so they decide to walk to get there. She’s wearing a dress with a huge neckline that she insists of covering with her jeans coat. They are almost there, but she keeps complaining about how her feet are killing her. And so, he’s almost offering to carry her when she decides to impersonate the way he talks. The way she always does to get him back for calling her Chris. 

“It isn’t far... Let’s go walking”, she says being sarcastic and look at him from the side with a smirk on her lips. 

“Yeah... Easy, CHRIS, we’re almost there.” He answers right back. 

The first thing she does when they get to their table, is take her heels off. 

“Comfortable?” 

“Very.” 

As the night goes by, the more they drink, the more comfortable they get around each other. She can’t stop laughing or touching him on the arms. Wht does she have to do that? Doesn’t she know that these little interactions make him feel things? It’s irrelevant and temporary, that’s what he told himself. 

Then she turns in his direction with drinks in hand, and he asks. 

“Are you enjoying it?” 

“Yes.” 

“I told you.” 

The smile that showed up on her face was huge, a sincere smile. With one leg over another, she gets comfortable on the chair on her barefoot hanging close to him. “It’s better?”, he slightly touches her feet (and instantly regrets it.) 

She nods, and he let’s go of her. That’s relevant and he knows it won’t be temporary.

...


	2. Nothing more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When it's over, she doesn't say anything and he is sure he did something very, very, unprofessional. He can barely look at her. 
> 
> "It was good", she smiles all sure of herself and next moment she is thanking the crew boy who was holding her 'la croix'. 
> 
> Tangerine, as always.

...  
Somehow, they knew this would come, but when it finally happens that afternoon it came along with an extra pressure. 

It's still early in the morning when he sees her arriving on set. He could tell that her hair is still wet because soft curls are taking shape. 

-BETH - is what's written on a piece of paper at her trailer’s door, which he is hitting with the back of his right hand just a few minutes later. In his left hand he holds tight his scripts of the day. 

"Come in". He hears her. She doesn't know it's him [he doesn't usually disturb her especially when she's alone] and he sees in her eyes, the moment he opens the door that she wasn't expecting a visit from him. 

"Whassup! I need to talk to you about some technical details of the scene we are going to do. Do ya have a second?"

The funny thing is that none of them understand about TECHNICAL DETAILS - they're just [good] actors - and this specific scene has no dialogue. 

“Sure!” - she looks at him with that big eyes of hers and then he throws the script on the table just before sitting next to her on that big couch she has. He loos around and even trough he has never been at her house, he just knows that her trailer is like an extension of her place... so particularly decorated...It’s just like her, you know... 

"Whassup?”, she tries to sound like him. 

She can see he's a little edgy... it's not even 8am. And the truth is: she knows what he was doing there. He looks nervous as hell!

He smiles shyly and finally admits –“I am kinda tense, man" 

Her proximity is doing nothing for him. 

"It's okay...I'm a little tense too. 

"Nahh... you've got this. 

And she looks at him to finds his eyes on her. One, two, three seconds lost in time. It’s all quiet and she's the first to break the noise of silence. "But are you sure it's safe?"

"Safe?"

"You know... are you sure your wife won't come after me to try to kill me?"

He laughs and some of the tension is gone. "I promise. She won't." 

Back then, he had no idea... 

"Well, do what you do best... improvise with me. We have a nice game"

"May I?"

"I said what I said...". She smiles and he's convinced.  
.

When she arrives on set, he’s already there talking with the director. She doesn't know why, but she’s avoiding to look at him and when she does, he is looking back. Matthew is also there and it's to him that she goes. When the moment comes, she doesn't recognize herself.. What’s it?! She has done this so many times... it's her job! 

The director talks to them. She knows what the script says and she knows he knows too. He needs to enter and wait for her to walk to him. 

"Improvise the rest”. 

And that's when they get lost. 

Take 1: she ruins everything when she lets a laugh escape by looking at his face through the mirror. 

Take 2: she walks to him, her eyes traveling to places of his body she won’t visit this time, but this is something they don't control. It just happens. This time they both smile and the scene needs to start again from where it left off. 

Take 3: she lifts her dress, but it slides between her fingers and she needs to lift it again. The scene follows. He gets closer (too close and she can feel it...). 

Take 4: he needs to touch her and she takes the opportunity to encourage him softly before cameras start rolling again. "You can... go ahead". And he takes that as encouragement by holding her breasts. 

Take 5: when he buries his face in her neck and feels her perfume he is already lost. He squeezes her harder and kisses her lightly just below her ear even knowing that he shouldn't (but she said he could). 

When the scene is interrupted for them to film at another angle, she doesn't say anything, but he realizes that her cheeks are getting in a tone between pink and red. 

The truth is that they have never been so close before. Television has its tricks. It’s just business (Nothing is real) - and he needs to remember that.  
There is a stool for her to lean on while he presses her against the wall and pretends to support her. 

Her legs are around his waist when she starts moaning. By instinct, he grabs her leg harder and suddenly "Oh!", it's the angle that changes, it's the rubbing, it's the heat that radiates from her and then it's him biting her neck and letting escape a totally involuntary moan. 

When it's over, she doesn't say anything and he is sure he did something very, very, unprofessional. He can barely look at her. 

"It was good", she smiles all sure of herself and next moment she is thanking the crew boy who was holding her 'la croix'. 

Tangerine, as always.  
. 

Between scenes, he takes his bottle of water and drinks avidly. It's late (it must be almost 11pm. They've been filming for hours). 

He sits on the stairs of the makeup trailer watching all the movement of the crew around the set and It’s not like he has nothing better to do, he's just tired, right? Retta and Mae seem to be having fun while they pack their things to go. Then something else catches his attention.

She's on the phone, leaning against a corner of the studio. 

There is a frown on her face and he wonders what happened to wipe the smile off her face. He knows he's staring and that he should not.

But he keeps looking anyway.

She throws her arms up, shakes her head and hangs up the phone. Then she realizes he's looking (and it's too late to turn around) but she just ignores it and walks to the girls, hands in her pockets and sad face. 

He stands there for a moment, paying attention to her. She must be sharing the whole story and he prefers not to know. He really doesn't want to know. But when he is forced to get up and get close to her to finish the scene, he hears her complaining "it seems I can't do anything right". 

The girls say their goodbyes a minute after comforting her and now it's just them. 

She apologizes for keeping him waiting. "Let’s go?"  
And he smiled to try to soften the mood. "Get it over with."

"Yeah..."  
.

It's even later when she finishes changing her clothes and getting her things ready to go. She knows that this is the reason of all her problems at home... "I have to schedule a time to see you?" but it's her job and she can't change it. 

As she walks to her car in the middle of an empty parking lot, she sees him - backpack on his back and phone in his hands. 

"Hey!", he turns to her when he hears her calling, "Are you going home? 

"Calling an uber," he swings the phone to show what he just said and gives back a smile. 

And that's when she thinks to herself... if she's already late, she can make a little change on her way home- it's a totally different way to be fair- but why not offer him a ride? 

He thanks her, but his first reaction is to deny, of course. He always seems to make sure he's not bothering anyone. She insists and he gives in. 

They are in her car. The light inside is on, but outside it's already dark. She looks for something in her purse when her cell phone starts ringing. She sees the name written on the screen but decides to ignore it (she knows that when she gets home she will have to deal with it). 

He must have realized that the sparkle in her eyes changed to something blue- or maybe he's still curious about earlier - but the fact is that he daring to ask if she's okay. 

"I've been better". She try to smile and he automatically understands. He also has his own problems. 

"I gotchu! Not everybody understands the sacrifices we have to do when we choose this job". He holds her hand and caresses the folds of her fingers.

They are looking each other the same way they have done so many times before) but they aren’t acting now and there’s something else happening here. 

"It's good to be understood once in a while...".

He’s already lost between the blue of her eyes and the red of her lips and still holds her hand. 

"Christina, you are beautiful..." and she knows that "but..." will come next so she gets ahead because, really, not even she knows what that is. 

And the only thing that comes to her mind to scare this white elephant standing among them is to break this strange mood with a dull joke. 

"Wow! You know my name!". 

he smiles tilting his head back and she breathes in relief knowing that this is what it is: JUST a ride, nothing more.  
.


	3. Not in love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What was that ?!", the girls ask her later.
> 
> "It’s called acting," she says as if it was nothing, but the truth is no one really believes that.  
> .
> 
> Everyone is talking about it: the chemistry between them. Well, not them. Beth and Rio. But in the end, there is always a little bit of the actor in each character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at this point, I think it useless to post warnings. if you're following until now, you must imagine what's coming ...

...

She is having lunch and some drinks with the girls in a food truck near the studios.

Mexican food and margaritas.

And she's really focused on what Mae is saying about the new decor in her bathroom when she realizes the exact moment she stops paying attention...

He's only a few feet away (and she's sure he saw them {her} sitting there) and totally ignored them as he grabs his smoothie and leaves to his trailer.

And maybe it was the extra shot of tequila, but suddenly she finds herself on her phone texting something for him.

‘And here I thought I looked like a snack but you don’t even looked at me... ". She likes to flirt, you know, but it's not a big deal.

He’s halfway when the message pops up. It takes him by surprise and for a moment he wonders if she might have sent it to the wrong person, so he waits a few minutes while opening his trailer’s door.

And the things is everybody knows she has been distracted, looking to her phone non-stop so when his “Oh, but you are! I just thought you already knew that by now” finally came, her stupid happy smile is what triggers all the girls’s questions {but she doesn’t have a plan to answer anyway}.  
.

She’s feeling dizzy when she comes back to the set to film her scene, but she knows what she has to do and what she has to say (she never misses a line), except that this time he can’t take away his eyes off of her and she is feeling so odd that she is sure she will ruin everything this time... who told her to start this? Now she has to deal with it. 

They’re shooting. Beth is passing the money bag to Rio and suddenly he is doing it again: doing things that shouldn't be there. He touches her hand so gently (he has noticed her hands for a while and loves them) but the camera doesn't catch that the first time he does it. Except that the careful eyes of the director doesn't miss it and so they are asking to repeat it because “It was a GREAT IDEA, Manny”. 

"What was that ?!", the girls ask her later.

"It’s called acting," she says as if it was nothing, but the truth is no one really believes that.  
.

Everyone is talking about it: the chemistry between them. Well, not them. Beth and Rio. But in the end, there is always a little bit of the actor in each character.

Mae is dealing with her cramping on the couch, while Retta is laughing out loud about something she is showing on her cell phone to Julie, the makeup artist. This is what she sees when she enters the makeup trailer carrying a bag of fruit and a sandwich for later.

"What? What are you laughing at? ” - she says approaching to look.

“The fans are aggressive! Before they just wanted to know when Brio is going to fuuuuck? Now, they don't wanna see the end of it and want more and more”.

BRIO.

She finds it funny and remembers that at the beginning she told the girls that she thought the whole thing was heading for something to happen between the two characters. "I wouldn't recommend to anyone to get together with a violent, criminal..."

"...boss".

“... I mean, there are millions of fish in the sea. I wouldn't go down that road... ”

And Retta had said that this was what people wanted.

Today she can see the appeal and that's why she is so curious by now, leaning over her friend's shoulders, trying to follow everything they are talking about.

"If you want to update yourself, you should think about going on social media".

She leans back, straightens her shoulders and denies it. “This is not for me. I'm very sensitive".

But the fact is that she cannot deny that she got interested.  
.

He comes to work all smiles and more sociable than never. 

They are shooting together all day and then there is a lunch break. She invites him to join her in her trailer. "I have more space there” - and in fact she has a bigger table.

He sits next to her and Triscuit jumps on his lap. "He likes you".

He smiles and pets him. Her hand joins his and for a brief moment their fingers meet (a casual touch). She smiles and looks away grabbing the sandwich. He does the same.

“Do you like it?" - he asks. 

Her eyes open widely and she feels the need to ask what he is talking about because it can really be anything, so - "What?"

"Us. Do ya like how we work together?”

She bites her sandwich, avoiding the question. Sauce drips from the corner of her mouth and he is watching, controlling the urge to wipe it himself, instead he offers her a napkin.

"Yeap!" - she replies without looking at him - "works well. I was told that people can’t stop talking about us”.

“Yes, man! It's super dope! You can find all kinds of things online. You should see for yourself”

"Show me then".

He takes his cell phone out of his pocket and shows it to her. They get closer and she can feel inside her that something is starting to get messy. 'Silly' - she thinks looking at his face and then reading the things he is showing. In fact, they are the same kind of things that Retta had shown her. 

He seems to have fun with this. Then she questions back. "And do you?"

And she knows he likes it. He started with this game: his eyes on her, hands all over, lines that aren’t in the script and she just played back with him.

She thinks she likes it too.

He shrugs and smiles in that way he always does, rubbing his face. But that is not an answer and she wants to hear him say it. “C’mon!”

“We are convincing as a couple in love”

And then she laughs. No, she doesn't just laugh, she's bending forward in a burst of laughter.

"What? What is so funny?"

“Manny, stop! We...they are not in love ”

"You have to admit ... it's a love-hate relationship"

And she laughs with less excitement this time. 

This has nothing to do with love.  
.

Then one day, he gets a call from the casting director. “Do you think your wife would like to make a small appearance on the show?

“Fuck, yeah!”. 

And he doesn't know when he thought it would be a good idea. Well, It wasn't.

"Listen, you have to think about all of us on set". That's how it started. His wife has a scene. JUST ONE FUCKING SCENE and she didn't really have to say anything, but for some reason she didn't understand that and they kept fucking up everything with some shit that shouldn't keep happening. 

Then she stops halfway and goes to talk to the director.

"I'm tired of this bullshit, her bullshit and his bullshit".

It's not good, In fact, It's very bad, because she is not like that, she doesn't usually lose her temper and by now the girls are getting out of the car to calm her down and he's trying to fight back.

"I don't allow you to ..."

But everything is much worse because she has just dropped the script and left the set location before he is able to finish his sentence.

She doesn't realize what happens next. He is following her and his wife is trying to follow him and everything is already a mess but some angel from Heaven says she isn't authorized to be beyond the set right now so she stays behind.  
.

“The nerve of him! Who the fuck do they think they are?! Who does SHE think she is!? ”

She needs air. She needs to recover from this (small) lack of self control. She is not like that in her personal life. And NEVER at work! But he seems to have the power to drive her crazy and on her way to her own trailer all she can feel are her shoes hitting the hot ground and her heart wanting to come out of her mouth.

When he reaches her, walks in without knocking and closing the door behind him angrily as hell, he finds her the same way, red with anger.

He doesn't intend to let things lie, she doesn't either and in the moment she notices his presence she is yelling again. “Get the fuck out! I’m not in the mood right now!”

“Oh, you’re not in the mood? Sorry to bother the star of this show, but that doesn't give you the right to...”

And she is already facing him, tears in the corners of her eyes, hands shaking and ... (Fuck it! He doesn't respect HER personal space).

"WHAT? DOESN’T GIVE ME THE RIGHT TO WHAT? You just have to do your fucking job and not screw the fucking scene EVERY DAMN TIME!”

His eyes are even darker; there is a frown on his face and his is doing a huge effort not to spit out the words he is keeping to himself. She doesn't let him speak and he feels like he's going to explode at any moment if she continues, but then...

"And you bring your wife here as if she is making the rules of MY job, of a show that she ISN'T EVEN PART OF! She doesn't have that right”

“THEN IS IT ABOUT THIS? THAT IS THE PROBLEM?". Something puts him on alert and suddenly it seems to make sense except that, it can't be.

“NO! Hell, yes! This is our job Manny! It’s going to be times we might not like what we have to do but is STILL our job. Do you think I like doing some things? Do you think I like this?” - she says with a sweeping arm gesture - Especially with your ungrateful as...”. And that is that. He grabs her shoulders and tries to put an end to it.

“Enough Chris!”

“Stop fucking calling me Chr...” - He moves forward. His mouth slamming down on hers, finding her in a rough, open-mouthed kiss. The kiss verging on violent, his fingers tight on her hair as if he can't pull her face close enough to his.

It's all sloppy, fast, and frantic. A mixture of a long-denied desire and something else. He wraps an arm around her back and pulls her into a tight hug as her hands move from his arms to his cheeks feeling his beard at her fingertips. She feels she has already memorized all the sharp angles of his face, that there is something familiar, something she had only been watching madly all this time.

And when they walk away, just enough to catch some air, trying to remember the reason for the fight and looking somewhere (anywhere!) the sense of reason that they seem to have lost, it's only the silence that finds them.

He walks out of the trailer trying to ignore how he can still taste her in his mouth and the guilt in his stomach. And maybe he's really an ungrateful ass fool who isn't doing his job right.

...


	4. I want to forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You idiots need to talk about it."
> 
> She shakes her head because the last thing she wants to do is talk about it.
> 
> "I want to forget".

...

"What am I doing here, Elizabeth?"

Burt's bees. Her lips taste like that lip balm she keeps using. It takes a second to notice, to remember.

Her eyes are closed and when she opens them and meets his, he can see her dilated pupils darkening her blue eyes.

There is no music in the background. Why the hell don't they have a theme yet? Music can bring all kinds of emotions, but at this point they are not sure where they are, what they should feel.

The set is in complete silence. He hears only the sound of their quick breathing and the kisses they have started again. It’s in the script that Rio should go to her and kiss her, but they came to the conclusion that it would be better if they met halfway. "It’s a decision from both of them" - and the irony of this ...

Then she touches his chin, guiding his kisses and he realizes how cold her hand is.

And it's hot outside and inside.

Her fingers find the buttons on his shirt and he knows she'll be in trouble if she really tries to open it. And then it's over before she needs to go ahead.

“Cut! Great job. Next scene”.

It's all so mechanical and different from the last time he was this close to her. She takes a step back and avoids looking at him. She is searching for the hidden scripts on the bed sheets and that's it.

Why does he feel like he's still cheating on his wife, then? 

The guilt continues to burn in the pit of his stomach.  
.

There were tears, apologies, promises when he finally couldn't take it anymore and confessed.

I am not emotionally invested, attached or in love with her - that's what he says.

It was just an attraction.  
Nothing happened. I'm just acknowledging the feelings and letting them go.

But of course his wife felt hurt - if your partner is fantasizing about being with someone else who is not your wife, that is an affair. Doesn’t have to be anything physical - he didn't tell the whole truth - and when her insecurity grew and shit happened, he had to take his wife’s side.  
.

In the days that follow he tries to do only what is in the script - what to say, what to do and how he’s supposed to feel. He knows what has to be done. And he does it.

But to be PROFESSIONAL he needs to remain in his character, whether the cameras are on or off. He gets distracted easily, very easily, so that's how it works. It's exhausting. Annoys some people. Annoys her. He knows. But that's his way of making it work, especially after...

He needs to keep his distance.

On the other hand, everything remains so easy for her. One moment she’s talking about some shit she wants to buy on her cell phone and the next moment she’s completely in Beth Boland’s mood. She is what they call: “a versatile actress”, ready for anything and everything and he can't help feeling so amateur at times ...

But this is not about acting.

It's about watching her walking her dogs between takes and hearing her talking to them in a funny, childish voice...

It’s about all the times that she’s waiting with some makeup artist on top of her and even then she doesn’t stop moving her fingers, even for a second, between the crochet hooks...

“Knitting”, she corrected him once.

It's about all those playlists that she insists on listening to and singing everywhere she goes when he’s trying to read his script and there is always one damn lyric that hits him deeper...

It's about him losing his fucking concentration constantly around her and about all the things he shouldn't want.

And still wants.

So he gets more and more alone. They don’t have personal talking anymore and he knows this is because of him.  
.

Of course everyone notices the energy that gravitates around them. It starts with them avoiding each other. If one of them come in, the other leaves. Before a scene, he isolates himself in his trailer or somewhere else and only shows up minutes before they start filming. She begins to complain about him to the girls... “His mere presence bothers me”.

“Girl, gimme a break! You’re overreacting”

"I am NOT over reacting" - she says - "He doesn't talk to me ... He doesn’t like me... I made a damn IG account and he didn't even send me a friend request".

"Who wouldn't want a cute little thing like you as a friend?".

She's stressful, she wants to cry. She hates being so emotional.

It starts to become more evident that something has changed the dynamics of their relationship and this time they don’t accept "nothing happened" as an answer. She finds herself telling everything. Spares no details.

"This is wrong on so many levels!"

"Oh! Don’t you think I know that?"

"Honestly? I think you two have lost your mind! ”

“What do I do?”, She whines.

"You idiots need to talk about it."

She shakes her head because the last thing she wants to do is talk about it.

"I want to forget".  
...


End file.
